The Puritan Experiment

A revised and updated edition of a classic text on the early puritans. The Puritan Experiment is an accessible, authoritative account of early New England, one with an enduring appeal for students and general readers. This revised and updated edition explains puritanism while incorporating fresh insights from current scholarship. Tracing the puritans’ journey from the Old World to America, Francis J. Bremer examines the causes and contexts of the puritan movement and analyzes the cultural, political, and economic revolutions wrought by the movement in both Old and New England. A pioneering text in its field, The Puritan Experiment is sweeping in scope. Bremer’s examination begins with the English Act of Supremacy of 1534 which placed King Henry VIII at the head of the Church of England, and it ends with the death of the puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards in 1758. From meeting house architecture to the Salem witch trials, from relations with Native Americans to the founding of the nation’s first colleges, Bremer details with style and grace how “a living system of faith” profoundly influenced the course of history in the New World. This illustrated edition includes new information about lay empowerment, the role of women, Native society, and the enslavement of Native Americans and Africans.